India to raise Balochistan issue diplomatically: MEA

Fri, Aug 26, 2016, 08:33 PM

New Delhi, Aug 26: India on Friday said that it is concerned about the "gross human rights" situation in Balochistan region of Pakistan and the concern is set to find an expression in its diplomacy in the coming days.

Responding to a query on whether India intends to raise the Balochistan issue at the United Nations General Assembly or the UN Human Rights Council, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said that how India takes it up diplomatically is something people should “wait and see”.

“India has a strong human rights record at home and we are naturally concerned at gross violations of human rights in the region you have referred to (Balochistan). How this is expressed in our diplomacy is something that you will have to wait and see,” he said.

Recently, Prime Minster Narendra Modi created a flutter in political and diplomatic circles when he raked up the issue of Balochistan during his Independence Day address to the nation from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort here.

India military support to East Pakistan's struggle for freedom from Pakistan led to the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.